Longtime Duncan banker and civic leader Richard E. Dixon passed away September 16 at his home in Tulsa. He was 79 years old.

Dixon was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father was a dentist in the U.S. Air Force. Thus, the family moved to Munich, Germany in 1947, just after World War II, when Richard was a seventh-grader. The family's travels in Europe fostered in Richard a love of travel which lasted the rest of his life.

Dixon graduated from high school in Enid, OK. He attended the University of Oklahoma, where he graduated with a Bachelor's Degree and earned the rank of 1st Lieutenant through ROTC studies. He served in the U.S. Army for two years and remained active in the Army Reserves for many years.

He attended the University of Oklahoma Law School, graduating in 1964. At that time, he went to work in the Trust Department of City National Bank in Oklahoma City.

In 1968, Dixon moved to Duncan to work as Vice-President and Trust Officer at Security National Bank Trust Company. He and his wife Sheila raised their two children in Duncan.

During his tenure at the Duncan bank, Dixon rose to be President and CEO. When the ownership of the bank changed in 1995, he was President of the Duncan office of AmQuest Bank; in 1998, he became Executive Vice-President of BancFirst in Duncan.

During his banking career, Dixon became director and president of the Oklahoma Bankers Association; treasurer of Centennial Duncan, Inc.; director and treasurer of the Duncan Youth Council and of the Duncan Industrial Foundation; director of First Oklahoma Life Insurance Co. (OKC); president of the DHS Booster Club.

He was president of the Duncan Public Schools Foundation and a director of the Cache Road National Bank in Lawton. He served on the faculty of Southwestern Graduate School of Banking. He was a member of the American, Oklahoma and Stephens County Bar Associations.

Duncan Jaycees named Dixon the "Outstanding Citizen" in 1985 and "Boss of the Year" in 1977. The Duncan Chamber of Commerce honored him with the "Man of the Year" award in 1986; with the "Distinguished Service" award in 2004; and with the "Community Education" award in 1998. In 2002 he was honored with the "Distinguished Trustee" award by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence.

He was instrumental in the planning, funding and construction of the L.B. and Ola Simmons Community Activities Center and served on its original governing board.

He was a past president of the Duncan Rotary Club and a Paul Harris Fellow.

Richard loved his work with the bank and with the civic organizations, but most of all he loved his family. He is survived by: his wife, Sheila, of the home in Tulsa; son, Jeffrey and his wife, Siobhan and their three daughters, Aryn, Eilise and Bridget; daughter, Valerie and her husband, Kent Shortridge, and their two daughters, Taylor and Sydney; brother, Todd Dixon and his wife, Mike; and sister, Connie and her husband, Dilbert Frieze.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Communities Foundation of Oklahoma, to the Duncan Regional Hospital Foundation, to the Little Lighthouse or to a charity of your choice.

Funeral Mass will be 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 19, 2015, at Christ the King Catholic Church.  Interment with military honors will follow immediately at Memorial Park Cemetery.

FITZGERALD IVY CHAPEL 918-585-1151